Legislative Services

No straight ticket, ballot proposals set in November election

Michigan voters will not be able to vote a straight-ticket when they go to the polls in November. Voters will not decide on paid sick leave or a $12 minimum wage. In a late move to take control of the citizen initiated petitions, the House and Senate passed the measures with the intent of Republican leadership to come back in lame duck to amend one or both of them.

The statewide ballot proposals in the November general election are: • Proposal 1 would allow personal possession and use of marijuana by people older than 21 while regulating the distribution and commercial production of recreational marijuana.• Proposal 2 would end partisan gerrymandering in Michigan by creating a non-partisan, transparent, and citizen-driven Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission.• Proposal 3 would amend the state constitution to authorize automatic and Election Day, voter registration, no-reason absentee voting and straight-ticket voting; and add current legal requirements for military overseas voting and post-election audits to the Michigan Constitution.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and eight Metro Detroit residents have filed suit in federal court asking that the state’s No-Fault Act be declared unconstitutional. Gov. Rick Snyder has signed Executive Order 2018-10 that creates a new fraud unit division within the Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS), which will conduct background checks on applicants for licenses and current licensees, looking into insurance fraud claims. Snyder says he will not endorse any of the candidates running to replace him - not even his fellow Republican nominee Bill Schuette. Protect Michigan Jobs, a union-backed group, has asked the Court of Claims to declare the initiative and repealed Michigan’s prevailing wage law violates the state constitution. That group, along with the Michigan Building and Trades Construction Council, wants a permanent injunction placed on any enforcement of PA 171, which was effective June 6 and repealed the 50-year old law that mandated construction workers on state-financed construction projects be paid fair and reasonable wages. Click the September 2018 Karoub Report for more legislative information.